PARIS – Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across Europe, North Africa and Asia on Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Sunday’s events followed massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.
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At a march in Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate, hundreds of pro-Israeli demonstrators set off up the famed Unter den Linden behind a banner that read “Against all antisemitism,” accompanied by a police escort.
With many Israeli flags waving over head, some Jewish leaders led a song about “shalom” — peace — while marchers chanted “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “Bring them home,” referring to hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
Thousands gathered in Paris for a Jewish memorial event featuring speakers and artists paying tribute to those killed in the Oct. 7 attack and stand with those still in captivity.
Ayelet Samerano, mother of Jonathan Samerano, who died after he was shot and kidnapped on Oct. 7 at the Supernova festival, said “we are a united people. Together we are strong ... no enemy will bring us down. With this unity and strength, we will bring our loved ones home.”
In London, thousands gathered in Hyde Park in a similar memorial event. The crowds chanted “Bring them home” and waved Israeli flags and placards with the faces of hostages still held by Hamas.
Around a thousand people gathered in Brazil’s capital Brasilia for a pro-Israel demonstration, responding to a joint call from Israeli ambassador Daniel Zohar Zonshine and the Council of Evangelical Pastors in Brazil’s Federal District.
Demonstrators in cars and motorbikes gathered at Television Tower in central Brasilia and then headed to the Ministries Esplanade, where they prayed for the victims of Oct. 7.
Massive protests
Meanwhile, people took to the streets from Pakistan to Morocco in massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In Morocco’s capital, Rabat, thousands marched by the parliament and called on the government to revoke its 2020 agreement formalizing the country's ties with Israel.
Abdelilah Miftah, from Casablanca, said Palestinians and Lebanese were now facing “Israeli arrogance.”
"Israel is not respecting any laws and is waging an aggressive war against them,” Miftah said.
The protest in Rabat was among the largest in months. Morocco’s government has spoken out against the war in Gaza but retained its ties with Israel.
In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a massive pro-Palestinian rally was organized by the country’s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami. Its chief, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, said the protest “is to wake up the world. ... This protest is to tell the U.S. that it is supporting terrorists.”
Earlier on Sunday in Australia, thousands of people rallied in support of Palestinians and Lebanon. A pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne.
Samantha Gazal said she came to the rally in Sydney “because I can’t believe our government is giving impunity to a violent extremist nation and has done nothing. ... We’re watching the violence play out on livestream, and they’re doing nothing.”
In Melbourne, supporters of Israel held up posters showing Israeli hostages who are still missing.
“We feel like we didn’t do anything to deserve this,” said Jeremy Wenstein, one of the participants. “We’re just supporting our brothers and sisters who are fighting a war that they didn’t invite.”
Heightened security alerts
Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that some of the protests could turn violent.
France's interior minister was to hold a special security meeting on Sunday evening to assess the “terror threat,” his office said.
On Sunday, Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed her “full solidarity” with police, the day after after security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome.
Meloni firmly condemned clashes between a few pro-Palestinian demonstrators and law enforcement officers, saying it was “intolerable that dozens of officers are injured during a demonstration.”
Thirty police officers and four protesters were hurt in clashes at the pro-Palestinian march in Rome Saturday, local media said. In Rome’s central Piazzale Ostiense, hooded protesters threw stones, bottles and even a street sign at the police, who responded using water cannons and tear gas.
Pope Francis, celebrating his Sunday Angelus prayer from the Vatican, issued a new appeal for peace “on every front.” Francis also urged his audience not to forget the many hostages still held in Gaza, asking for “their immediate liberation.”
The pope called for a day of prayer and fasting on Monday, the first anniversary of the attack.
Risk of a regional escalation
On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. It says more than half were women and children.
Nearly 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive. Israelis have experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.
In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon and some other areas of the country, attacking the militants with exploding pagers, airstrikes and, eventually, incursions into Lebanon.
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Zampano reported from Rome. Associated Press writers Sam Metz in Rabat, Morocco and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.